1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to security devices and, more particularly, is concerned with an apparatus and method for a hand imaging security device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Methods related to the present invention have been described in the prior art; however, none of the prior art devices disclose the unique features of the present invention. The innovative quality of the present invention is easily illustrated when a comparison to current methods is made. Patent searches and media sources indicate there is a trend in computer systems security to rely on biometric means of identification. One patent in particular; U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,737 states in its abstract that “the definition of scientific technique utilized by biometric devices, is to identify the user based on comparison of unique personal characteristics”. The afore mentioned patent then lists a set of biometric measurements that claim to define what types of biometric traits are suitable for identification purposes. Logic dictates by that patents' own definition of method, that the biometric object that is being measured must be a unique identifier in order to be useful. In other words the same type of measurement taken from two different subjects should not match. This key point is how the present invention demonstrates a different strategy and shows how the core concept of the present invention is in fact innovative. The present invention does not rely on an absolute measurement of any specific body part in the sense that the measurement taken of that body part becomes the absolute calibration for further measurement of that particular body part as an object in comparison to the original measurement taken—the original measurement being the control and absolute calibration for further measurements taken of that body part by the same technique and means of measurement as the original. In example when a retina is scanned for personal identification and or authentication, that retinal scan becomes the ruler by which all other scans taken of that retina are compared, the retina is simply an object used in the calibration of future measurements of itself. The present invention relies on the active intention of the user to enable the process of authentication. The present invention is not biometric in the sense that U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,737 describes because the user must be conscience of their identification and intend to enable authentication. The present invention is also not merely an alphanumerical key because the user must be present for authentication. The fact that the user must be present, and their hand is used in the creation and subsequent recreation of a hand sign for authentication does not mean that the measurement taken is absolutely biometric, the user must also actively intend to be identified by the recreation of the correct hand signs in proper succession. While the prior methods mentioned; in U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,737—pertaining to biometric measurement, or with the method of alphanumerical identification may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.